Floral carrier

ABSTRACT

A carrier designed for accepting a wide variety of vases employed in the floral trade is conveniently formed from plastic. The carrier configuration provides for ready adaptation to a wide range of vase sizes and shapes and prevents tipping during transportation and delivery of floral arrangements. Two general types of carriers are disclosed, a first type being used generally for most shapes and sizes of floral vase, and the other type being employed specially for a class of irregular shapes, such as for bulky oblong or rectangular vases.

[ 51 May 9,1972

xxx R 9MB 24 Man. 28 4 l/l969 Glenetal........................

8/l966 Mcl-lale............................

m m a m 7 5 w M Primary Examiner-J. Franklin Foss Attorney-David E. Hoppe w s a' d mm wn m" mMw I .1n 8. u W R mm MM Aw dr m MMumF mm W m m v 8 mm A mm B [22] Filed: MIT. 19, 970 ABSTRACT [21] PP N03 20,997 A carrier designed for accepting a wide variety of vases employed in the floral trade is conveniently formed from plastic.

The carrier configuration provides for ready adaptation to a wide range of vase sizes and shapes and prevents tipping during transportation and delivery of floral arrangements. Two general types of carriers are disclosed. a first type being used generally for most shapes and sizes of floral vase. and the other type being employed specially for a class of irregular shapes, such as for bulky oblong or rectangular vases.

References Cited 111 74 5 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEBMM 9 I972 sum 1 OF 7 FIG.1

PATENTEDHAY m2 8.861.350 sum 2 OF 7 INVI'LN'IUR. RICHARD C. ECKLER FRANK H. AMIRAULT ATTORNEY PATENTEDHH @IQYE $661,356

sum 3 OF 7 INVENTOR. RICHARD C.ECKLER FRANK H. AMIRAULT ATTORNEY PATENTEDMAY 9 I972 661 .350

SHEET 4 BF 7 l N V! ;'N 'l MR. RICHARD C. ECKLER BY FRANK H. AMIRAULT U q QJW ATTORNEY PATENTED W 9 I972 sum 5 OF 7 I :dV/jsN! UK RICHARD C.ECKLER FRANK H. AMIRAULT ATTORNEY mmzum NW2 3.661.356

SHEET 8 OF 7 INVEN'I'OR RICHARD C. ECKLER FRANK H.AMIRAULT DMQ ATTORNEY PATENTEnm 91922 3.661.350

sum 7 [1F 7 II VI)? 1/ RICHARD C R FRANK H. IRAULT ATTORNEY BM 44 )U A FLORAL CARRIER This invention relates to adaptable carriers generally, and more particularly to a delivery carrier suitable for accepting any floral vase with its arrangement.

One of the functions performed by a florist is the delivery of a wide variety of floral arrangements. A floral arrangement combines a base or container with an assortment of flowers, and the container generally holds water for nourishing the flowers for a period of time and incorporates some sort of matrix for maintaining the flowers in the positions desired to make the arrangement attractive. It will be appreciated that a floral arrangement is an especially delicate combination to transport to the delivery location. If, as is generally the case, the flat-bed of a van or truck is employed for setting out the finished arrangement, great care must be taken in loading and unloading, as well as in the operation of the delivery van. A floral arrangement has a high center of gravity and therefore is susceptible to tipping. A sudden start or stop can tip over the entire group of floral arrangements in a delivery van. Once an arrangement tips, the water content spills out of the vase, and it is necessary to refill the water to maintain the flower life of an acceptable period of time. In addition, time must usually be spent rearranging the flowers in this event.

The suppliers to the floral trade have provided a variety of means to use for floral delivery, such as an item consisting of a flat cardboard base with strings or elastic to anchor a vase thereto. This type of item has limited usability in that labor must be expended to properly combine the vase with the base. It is a long felt need to have a floral carrier that is more convenient to use.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a carrier suitable for floral delivery applications which will readily accept a wide variety of vase sizes and shapes and will maintain the arrangement position upright during delivery.

It is another object of this invention to provide a configuration of floral carrier that may be readily and economically formed from plastic.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a first type of carrier with a vase and floral arrangement;

FIG. 2 is a three-dimensional view of a second type of carrier with a vase and floral arrangement;

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional view of the first type of carrier;

FIG. 4 is a partial cut-away view of the first type of carrier with a vase;

FIG. 5 is a partial cut-away view of the first type of carrier with another vase configuration;

FIG. 6 is a partial cut-away view of the first type of carrier with still another vase;

FIG. 7 is a partial cut away view of the first type of carrier with yet another vase;

FIG. 8 is a partial cut-away view of the first type of carrier with another vase;

FIG. 9 is a partial cut-away view of the first type of carrier with a pipe-shaped vase; and

FIG. I0 is a three-dimensional view of the second type of carrier supporting a rectangular vase.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, carrier 10 retains a vase 1] by means of four resilient grips 12, grips 12 being concentrically positioned about a central point 13 of carrier I0. Resilient grips 12 are conveniently bonded to inner wall 14a of raised annular portion 14 of carrier 10 at equidistant locations thereabout so that adjacent grips I2 are equispaced from one another.

The grip dimensions are such that, if a diameter of the receptacle formed by inner wall 14a is taken through a pair of opposing grips 12, it will be observed that grips l2, taken together, occupy a considerable proportion of this diameter, preferably at least one-half thereof, so that the open space between opposing grips 12 is less than one-half the diameter of receptacle Me. It may be found, for example, that if this open space between opposing grips is more than two-thirds of the diameter of receptacle 140, the carrier becomes less suitable for a variety of use.

The arrangement of grips illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 is suitable for retaining a wide variety of vase shapes and sizes, the resiliency of grips 12 accommodating shapes as required, with the relative bulk of grips 12 compared to the spacing therebetween providing for a great adaptability of carrier application.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 3, carrier 10 dimensions suitable for a wide variety of vase handling are: a base 15, preferably square in shape, of about l2 inches on a side. Resilient feet 18 are located at the corners of base l5, being conveniently glued thereto, feet l8 serving to protect the surface upon which carrier 10 may be placed, and serving the function of resisting lateral slippage of carrier 10 during transportation of the floral arrangement. It is found that these dimensions of base IS, with feet 18 being affixed thereto, serve to effectively resist tipping of the floral arrangement, notwithstanding the relatively high center of gravity involved with the typical floral arrangement.

The height of raised annular portion 14 of carrier 10 is conveniently about 7 inches above base 15, with the inner diameter of receptacle 140 formed by annular portion I4 being in the range of 5-8 inches, according to the upward taper of receptacle inner surface 14a of annular portion 14. Outer surface 14b is provided with four butressing proturberances 19, each conveniently at a corner of base I5, thereby utilizing the spacing at the comers of base 15. Butressing protuberances I9 serves as strengthening members for raised annular portion 14, as well as means for conveniently handling carrier I0 when holding a floral arrangement.

Carrier 10 may conveniently be vacuum formed from sheet plastic, polystyrene of at least 0.08 inches thickness being found suitable. Sheet polystyrene of thinner sizing cannot provide the durability required for day-to-day commercial use. The sizing of the original sheet plastic is also important in that the vacuum formation of the annular portion I4 tends to thin down pans of carrier 10, especially in bottom I7 of vase receptacle 14a, and polystyrene of thickness less than 0.08 inches produces a carrier 10 by vacuum forming having very flexible and thin regions. Vacuum forming techniques are available to reduce the tendency for regions to thin down, such as the use of plug followers which tend to stabilize the flow of plastic material during vacuum forming.

Resilient grips 12 are generally rectangular in cross-section, about l V: by 2 inches, and so may be conveniently cut from strip material rather than being especially formed for this application. When mounted, the top of each grip 12 is tapered downward somewhat in the direction of the center of receptacle Ma to present a more concave carrying surface near the top of raised annular portion 14 which will be useful for supporting certain types of floral arrangements. The 2 inch longer cross-sectional dimension of grip 12 provides for a total of 4 inches of material occupying a diameter of receptacle I4a taken across opposing grips 12.

A single lengthwise surface 12b of each grip 12 is used for bonding to inner surface of raised annular portion 14. A wide variety of bonding agents commercially available is suitable for this application. For example, Scotch Sure Bond is suitable. Grips 12 are made of resilient material, preferably with open cells for maximum resiliency and increased surface friction properties, 'A suitable material is polyether of 2 pounds per cubic foot density. Any other resilient material having suitable/properties may be used, so long as it is water resistant and "abrasion resistant. It may be expected that considerable exposure to water and temperature will occur in the use of these floral carriers, and that grips I2 will be subjected to frequent and extreme deformations.

Referring to FIGS. 4 through 9, cross-sectional views of grips l2 accommodating a variety of vases II are shown. It may be seen how grips l2 deform the grasp different sizes and shapes of vase I I. In FIGS. 5 and 9, it may be seen how highly irregular floral containers 11 are accommodated by the spacing between grips l2. FIG. 6 shows a type of vase 11 that generally is supported by tapered top surface 124 of grip 12.

Referring to FIG. 2, a second carrier 20 is provided for floral vases having generally bulky and rectangular shapes. Carrier 20 has two raised parallel ridges 21-22, each carrying respective parallel resilient grips 23 and 24 on opposing faces so that a bulky and irregular vase 25 may be accommodated by insertion between grips 23 and 24, the insertion of vase 25 being conveniently made starting at either ends of grips 23 and 24, and vase 25 being slipped therealong grips 23 and 24 until in a desired position.

Carrier 20 is particularly suitable for bulky papier-mach vases, as shown in FIG. 2, or for large rectangular items, as illustrated in FIG. 10. The base 26 of carrier 20 conveniently is dimensioned [7 inches on a side, with the parallel ridge and grip members measuring about 12 inches in length. Resilient feet 27 are positioned at comers of base 26. The height of the ridges 21-22 need be only about 3 inches, and the spacing between opposing faces 23a and 24a of grips 23 and 24 may conveniently be 3 inches, perhaps a little less. The cross-section of grips 23 and 24 may be about 2 inches by 2 inches.

The materials employed in carrier are also particularly suitable for use with carrier 20. A carrier 20, constructed in this manner will provide for transportation of many of the vase types having considerable bulk and rectangularity. The combination of carrier 10 and carrier will thereby provide for substantially all transportation requirements in an average floral establishment, notwithstanding that only a single size in each carrier 10 and 20 is employed.

What is claimed is:

l. A carrier for floral vases comprising,

a base member,

a rigid annular supporting member upwardly disposed from said base and integral therewith to form an annular receptacle raised from said base, and

a plurality of elongated resilient grips attached to the inside wall of said receptacle with their long dimensions disposed vertically and with each grip being dimensioned to project inwardly from said inside wall of said receptacle about one-quarter the inside diameter of said receptacle towards the center of said receptacle so that approximately one-half of the inside diameter of said annular receptacle is an open space in the center of said receptacle.

2. The carrier of claim I with said base occupying approximately 1 square foot, and the inner diameter of said receptacle being about 8 inches or less, and with the dimension of each grip taken along a diameter of said receptacle being on the order of 2 inches so that the open space within said receptacle between the nearest respective parts of an opposing pair is less than one-half of a diameter of said receptacle.

3. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base member and said rigid supporting members are integrally formed from plastic.

4. The carrier of claim 3 wherein said plastic is polystyrene and said resilient grips are made of polyether of approximately 2 pounds per cubic foot density.

5. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base member and said rigid supporting members are integrally formed from polystyrene and said resilient grips are set polyether having approximately 2 pounds per cubic foot density.

It I i i 

1. A carrier for floral vases comprising, a base member, a rigid annular supporting member upwardly disposed from said base and integral therewith to form an annular receptacle raised from said base, and a plurality of elongated resilient grips attached to the inside wall of said receptacle with their long dimensions disposed vertically and with each grip being dimensioned to project inwardly from said inside wall of said receptacle about onequarter the inside diameter of said receptacle towards the center of said receptacle so that approximately One-half of the inside diameter of said annular receptacle is an open space in the center of said receptacle.
 2. The carrier of claim 1 with said base occupying approximately 1 square foot, and the inner diameter of said receptacle being about 8 inches or less, and with the dimension of each grip taken along a diameter of said receptacle being on the order of 2 inches so that the open space within said receptacle between the nearest respective parts of an opposing pair is less than one-half of a diameter of said receptacle.
 3. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base member and said rigid supporting members are integrally formed from plastic.
 4. The carrier of claim 3 wherein said plastic is polystyrene and said resilient grips are made of polyether of approximately 2 pounds per cubic foot density.
 5. The carrier of claim 1 wherein said base member and said rigid supporting members are integrally formed from polystyrene and said resilient grips are eof polyether having approximately 2 pounds per cubic foot density. 